Tag Archives: hunting

There is a new business is town, Corporate Wellness and I’m gettin’ me some of the cash. However, it comes with traps such as, let’s work a million hours and not keep up on blog. It also leads to questions such as, are the pearls of wisdom coming out of my mouth making any difference?

For the last few months I have been a Health Educator for one of these companies. The pay is okay, but the work can be grinding. Some company pays our company to come in and do “health screenings” for their employees. Sometimes there is a cash incentive for the employee to have the screening done and sometimes not. Sometimes the cash is only for the salaried employees. Sometimes the company just raffles off something to screening participants not cash oriented like a small backpack with a company logo. This does not appear to generate the enthusiasm conceived by the corporate head honchos.

Then, I, the illustrious Health Educator, reveal all the meanings of life or at least the meanings of your results in less than 5 minutes. Move’em in, move’em out. For some companies, the employees are fairly well educated and understand my Readers’ Digest version of how to turn a lousy result into wellness nirvana. Then, there are the Squirrel People.

I’ve spent a lot of time in rural areas, and I really respect the people I’ve met, but I realized how sheltered I am not having cable TV, watching ads about food, drink and pharmaceuticals and sitting doctors offices reading back issues of People or Prevention magazines.

Squirrel unimpeded by flashy food ads. Still fits on tree branch.

In contrast, many of the wage-earning folks of these companies located off Highway to Nowhere, America buy into everything on Dr. Oz and the Cartoon Network. The amount of medication taken is astounding, especially from folks extremely cautious about owning a cell phone or having an email address. Astounding because the drugs have so little effect and are peddled out with so little education of how they actually work and how you can take care of yourself. This is where the squirrels come in.

I cannot remember the percentage of folks in the obese weight range who denied they were anything other than”Big Boned”. Everyone told me, “I eat bad”, like I had put up a confessional when I set up the table and chairs, but resolved to continue with their current regime and swallow the pills. When asked about physical activity the answer was, “hunting”. There was no understanding that sitting in a tree or blind for hours on end really didn’t consist of much activity and there was no cognitive connection with their “kill” and gout flaring up. Here’s a sample discussion-

What do you eat or drink after you wake up?

“Coffee”

Then what happens?

“I go to work.”

Do you eat anything there?

“Cereal.”

What kind?

“Healthy.”

What does that mean?

“What?”

Healthy.

“You know Honey Nut Cheerios.”

What makes it healthy?

Blank stare. “I don’t know.”

Anything to drink with that?

“Gatorade.”

What’s the point to the gatorade?

“What do you mean?”

If you are doing heavy work in a hot environment you can lose some minerals and stuff from your body that is really important, but you can replace it fairly easily. Are you working that hard?

“Gatorade is good for you. . . or that’s what everyone says.”

Pause.

Then, what happens?

“Lunch”

What’s for lunch today?

“Ham and cheese sandwich.”

Anything on it?

“No.”

Anything else?

“Maybe an apple.”

Anything for a snack?

“Maybe a bag of chips. Sometimes.”

Then what happens?

“I go home.”

Do you have dinner?

“Yes, pork chops.”

Anything else on the plate?

“Vegetables. I don’t eat carbs.”

How many vegetables? Is it like this? Make small bowl with hands. Or this? Spread arms apart like a casserole dish.

“Like this.” Hands scooped like 1/4 cup.

Any dessert?

Same size as vegetables eaten for entire day.

“No”

Do you know that every vegetable is mainly carbs?

“No.”

Did anyone explain to you the connect between gout and game meats?

“No.”

Has anyone explained to you the use of fiber foods and whole grains to help with your high cholesterol?

“No.”

How long have you been on Lipitor? Crestor?

“Five years.”

Fiber can help with cholesterol and also constipation, if that is ever a problem.

“Oh, I take Metamucil every day.”

Did anyone tell you that by having more fruits during the day you may not need Metamucil?

“Really?”

Gatorade is high in sodium. Not having enough water in your system can also make you constipated. Do you think you could swap out half the gatorade for just water?

This person is WAY into the obese category. Their cholesterol is fairly high, and according to them, they eat about 800 calories a day. That’s when I ask if they drink alcohol. Of course, 90% only have, maybe one or two drinks a week. I am amazed at the hundreds of people defying biochemistry and gaining weight on 800 calories a day and being at least 5 feet 7 inches. I’m around 5 feet 5 inches and can’t make it through the day on less than 1200.

Here’s another problem.

When is the first thing you eat or drink?

“That depends. I do swing shift.”

Swing shift means you work all the shifts for about one week each. So your schedule is constantly changing. This week you start work at 7am, in 12 days you will start work at 5pm, then in another two weeks you may be back at 7am or onto nights and start at 11pm. This wreaks havoc on sleep, gastrointestinal health and the cohesion of a family. But these are the only jobs in town that have benefits. No one is going anywhere.

At least squirrel can see the trap.

There I am counseling a few hundred people at 5 minutes each on how to turn around these trends that are the heart of our national state of disease. What am I really doing to help them and their families?

They need an onsite program that changes the entire community’s dynamic. We need to support time parents need with their kids, support long term health and educate on basic nutrition needs even if it includes squirrel stew. It needs to be around for at least 5 years to make any long term impact.

Of course, there was one gentleman who was explaining how he dealt with his rotundity. As he was sitting in the chair next to me, he explained.

Couldn’t leave you with just the “kneading” image. Here is nice, healthy squirrel.

“I get into my bathtub in some nice hot water. Then, I massage my fat.” He began to demonstrate on his stomach. “I massage the fat so it breaks down.” He is slowly kneading fat through his fingers.

” That’s how I am getting rid of it. But, I don’t know if it scientific or anything.”